Valve ports Portal to NVIDIA SHIELD

In a bit of a surprise twist to the end of his GPU Technology Conference 2014 (GTU 2014, that is) chat, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang let it be known that Portal would be coming to NVIDIA SHIELD. Not just streaming, and not just in a mirrored mode. Instead, he said, Valve has ported Portal to NVIDIA SHIELD specifically in its entirety.

This game will be released soon to NVIDIA SHIELD in its full form. At the moment it’s not clear if this means that Portal 2 will be coming to Android as well, or if Portal will be coming to Android in general. What it does mean is that Valve is working in a unique new way with NVIDIA, a way which allows them to leverage NVIDIA SHIELD for new and unique purposes.

In this move we see NVIDIA get one more step closer to being part of SteamOS as well. As Android is Linux-based, and SteamOS is Linux-based, it’s not too far of a leap to consider a device like NVIDIA SHIELD to be capable of running SteamOS in full. We’ve got no confirmation on this from Valve or NVIDIA, but keep it in mind nonetheless.

“NVIDIA has created a very powerful and unique device with SHIELD. Our companies have a strong history working together and we’re looking forward to Portal‘s arrival on SHIELD.” - Valve’s Doug Lombardi

Portal will be available for NVIDIA SHIELD soon, and very soon. NVIDIA has not said anything beyond "coming soon" and that Portal "will be joining over 300 SHIELD-supported Android games." We’d not be surprised if the game was also generally available for Android in coming months - we shall see!

NOTE: Of special importance is the face that Portal runs on Valve's Source engine, making this game ideal for a mobile port. Keep your eye on the rest of the Source-developed games (Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half Life 2) and don't count out their Android-aimed porting for the future - it's all very possible!